Newsletter

Officials cite ‘unique circumstance’ in 35-minute gap between call to LPD, Tech Alerts to community

Police search for evidence near Texas Tech Police Department after an officer was shot and killed by Hollis Daniels on Oct. 9, 2016, in Lubbock, Texas. Daniels fled the scene and was captured later near Jones AT&T Stadium. (Brad Tollefson/A-J Media)

Police on scene at the Texas Tech Police Department after an officer was shot and killed by Hollis Daniels on Oct. 9, 2016, in Lubbock, Texas. Daniels fled the scene and was captured later near Jones AT&T Stadium. (Brad Tollefson/A-J Media)

Police on scene at the Texas Tech Police Department after an officer was shot and killed by Hollis Daniels on Oct. 9, 2016, in Lubbock, Texas. Daniels fled the scene and was captured later near Jones AT&T Stadium. (Brad Tollefson/A-J Media)

Twenty-seven minutes passed from the time Lubbock police took a call about a shooting on the Texas Tech campus on Monday night until a call was made to the Tech Office of Communications and Marketing.

Another eight minutes passed before an alert was sent to the Tech community, telling faculty, staff and students that a shooter was at large and the campus was being placed on lockdown.

In total, 35 minutes passed between the call to Lubbock police at 7:46 p.m. and the earliest official alert to the community at 8:21 p.m., Lubbock police and Tech officials confirmed.

Usually a first alert is posted to the Tech Alert system by the Texas Tech Police Department. Second alerts are posted by Tech’s Office of Communications and Marketing, according to Allison Matherly, media relations coordinator for the office.

Chris Cook, managing director for the office of communications and marketing, said Monday’s events caused a change from the protocol of alerts.

Inside the police department, Cook said, “You have an officer discovered shot, the gunman is nowhere to be seen. You’re clearing the building while also searching.”

The place where the alert would normally be generated was suddenly a crime scene, Cook said.

“This was definitely a unique circumstance,” he said, later describing it as a challenge. A murder warrant released Tuesday states East was shot in the head by 19-year-old Hollis Daniels III at the police station as the officer was booking the Tech student following an arrest for alleged drug violations in his dorm. Police said Daniels then fled on foot.

Matherly said she received a message about the shooting at 8:13 p.m. A Tech Alert was sent to the Tech community within eight minutes at 8:21 p.m., she said.

The time stamp on the Tech website at emergency.ttu.edu said the alert went out at 8:23 p.m.

The university continued to provide Tech alerts over the next 71 minutes, giving more information and urging people to continue to shelter in place. An “All Clear” was sent via the Tech Alert system at 9:34 p.m. after Tech police said Daniels was arrested near Lubbock Municipal Auditorium.

Once she receives information, Matherly said, she uses a program called Blackboard Connect on a laptop that is with her at all times.

“I can do that very quickly if needed,” she said.

Tech Alerts are sent to around 50,000 students, parents, faculty and staff at Tech and 10,000 people at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center via phone, text and email. It also automatically posts to Facebook and Twitter, but because of character limits for text and Twitter, she said she has to shorten the entire message to 140 characters or less.

Matherly said she also records the message for audio alerts.

Cook said any incident that poses an imminent threat to the campus could be sent out as a Tech alert, but the university also uses the system if there is a weather event that might change classes.

“Anything that lends to the safety of our university students. And not just students, but the university community,” Cook said.

All students who are enrolled are automatically added to the Tech Alert system, but Cook said students can also put in up to four phone numbers, which allows students to add their parents’ numbers if they wish. Faculty and staff members are also added to the Tech Alert system.

Miglena Sternadori, an associate professor in the College of Media & Communication, was teaching a graduate-level research methods class on Monday night when the first alert went out. She recalled checking her phone at 8:23 p.m. to see how much time there was left in class. A student soon told the class the campus was on lockdown. Sternadori said she did not receive an email until 8:31 p.m.

Upon learning there was a 35-minute delay between the original call to police and the first alert, Sternadori said she did not want to be overly critical, but was concerned about the lapse in communication.

“In those 35 minutes, this young man could have easily walked to any building on campus. And we had no warning. The door was open,” Sternadori said.

Sternadori said she thought she had signed up to receive text and phone call alerts as well, but said she was unsure. Many students reported being the in the same situation.

Jasmine Stevens was at the Sigma Phi Lambda sorority meeting in the College of Media & Communication building when the campus lockdown took effect. She said officers of her sorority seemed to know about the situation through friends before an official alert was sent out. The women were already huddling in the dark when they received the alert.

Stevens admitted she was confused on where to get official notifications and information during the lockdown. She also only received the email alert, and relied on social media for updates. She said she followed the official Tech and Lubbock Police Departments social media accounts, knowing they would provide accurate and updated information.

“You almost learn that you’re not as connected as you think you are,” Stevens said of the situation. “I definitely will get more notifications now.”

Tech is not alone in facing challenges in communicating with its community.

President Greg Fenves of the University of Texas at Austin responded to complaints in a letter about an incident of stabbings on May 1. One student was killed and three other students were injured following attacks on the UT campus.

According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman, Austin Emergency Medical Services first received reports about the stabbings at 1:46 p.m. The American-Statesman posted breaking news alerts on Twitter at 1:55 p.m., while the Austin Police Department tweeted at 2:07 p.m. But the university did not tweet until 2:14 p.m. UT Police said they decided not to put the campus on lockdown because the suspect was immediately put in custody and there was no ongoing threat.

In his letter to the community, Fenves said, “Many students and parents are frustrated with how long the university took to notify them of today’s attack. I understand those frustration, and I am committed to faster notification in the future.”

Calls from A-J Media to officials at UT on Wednesday afternoon to find out if changes had been implemented in the communications system were not returned.

In another situation, a man attacked people with a car and later stabbed other victims at The Ohio State University on Nov. 28, 2016. Ohio State sent out a “Buckeye alert” within two minutes of the incident, with a tweet from @OSU-EMFP going out to students, “Active Shooter on campus. Run Hide Fight. Watts Hall. 19th and College.”

Some Twitter users later criticized Ohio State for posting that there was a shooter, but the alert was delivered within two minutes.

According to Ohio State’s website, “Buckeye Alerts, often sent via text message, are issued when it is determined that the campus community needs to take immediate action to remain safe. As a result, if a Buckeye Alert text message is issued, there is a chance it may contain general information such as ‘Buckeye Alert! Emergency on Columbus campus: More info soon. Be observant/take action as needed.’ In this instance, a second Buckeye Alert is likely to follow containing additional details like the incident location or the specific type of emergency.”

Officials from The Ohio State University did not respond to requests for comment about Buckeye Alerts on Wednesday afternoon.